CLEVELAND THIS IS FOR YOU

LeBron James delivered one of his mightiest all-around performances and the Cleveland Cavaliers completed the greatest comeback in NBA Finals history Sunday, dethroning defending champion Golden State 93-89 to capture their first league title.

James scored 27 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and passed off 11 assists to win the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player award for the third time in his career as the Cavaliers became the first club to rally from a 3-1 deficit to win the best-of-seven series title.

“We were able to put together some spectacular games down 3-1,” a tearful James said moments after the victory. “This is special.

“I kept that positive attitude. I don’t know why we had to take the hard road. Against all odds.”

Kyrie Irving added 26 points, including the crucial 3-pointer with 52 seconds remaining to give Cleveland the lead for good, as the Cavaliers took the series 4-3 and brought Cleveland its first major sports champion since the 1964 NFL Browns, ending the longest such title drought for any American city.

‘This is for you’

“Cleveland, this is for you,” James screamed on the court after the frantic final seconds.

“I’ve had goal for two years since I came back to bring a championship to the city,” said an emotional James, who returned to the Cavaliers in 2014 after a four-year stint with Miami that included a pair of NBA championships.

“I gave it everything that I had. I poured my heart, my blood, my sweat and my tears into this game.”

For James, the win not only marks his third NBA title, but it will go down as the single greatest achievement of his storied career as it fulfills his promise to deliver a title to his home state of Ohio.

“I understand what everyone in northeastern Ohio have been through the last 50-plus years and I am happy to be a part of history,” said James, who was in tears as he wrapped his arms around the Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy. “I can’t wait to get back home. I am ready to get to you guys.”

“King” James had only the third statistical “triple double” in the seventh game of an NBA Finals, joining Jerry West in 1969 and James Worthy in 1988.

James, in his sixth consecutive finals and seventh overall, led the series with 29.7 points, 11.3 rebounds and 8.7 assists plus more than two steals and two blocked shots a game — the greatest all-around numbers ever produced with a crown on the line.

Only two other clubs down 3-1 in the finals had ever forced a seventh game, none in 50 years until the Cavaliers epic comeback.

It was only the fourth time in 19 NBA Finals seventh games that the road team won, the first time since Washington captured the 1978 title in Seattle.

source: interaksyon.com